BE FIERCE. BE WILD. BE FREE.
Ireland, 1650; an English girl gets to know the mysterious Mebh in the woods, learning that her spirit turns into a wolf whenever she’s sleeping. The third part of director Tomm Moore’s Irish folklore trilogy features Oliver Cromwell of all people, a very villainous Lord Protector. Reality and fantasy blend in a film whose style may seem deceptively simple, but creates a beautiful flow in harmony with the colors and folk music on the soundtrack. A traditional fairy tale in many ways, but its conflict between the English and the creatures of the woods resonates. Listening to young Eva Whittaker as the wild and adventurous Mebh is a joy.
2020-Ireland-Britain-France. Animated. 103 min. Color. Produced by Tomm Moore, Stéphan Roelants, Nora Twomey, Paul Young. Directed by Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart. Screenplay: Will Collins. Voices of Honor Kneafsey (Robyn Goodfellowe), Eva Whittaker (Mebh Óg MacTíre), Sean Bean (Bill Goodfellowe), Tommy Tiernan, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Simon McBurney.
Trivia: The first two films in the trilogy are The Secret of Kells (2009) and Song of the Sea (2014).
Last word: “I don’t know where we found the name ‘wolfwalkers,’ they were originally known as the ‘man wolves of Ossory.’ Ossory [now modern-day County Kilkenny] is an old name for the area we grew up in, and where our studio is now. The sad story is that the wolves were completely wiped out, and with that a lot of the folklore died off too. We thought it was nice to revitalize and reimagine the stories.” (Moore, Deadline)
